CORRECTION: This story has been updated to add to a title for Fred Durso and correct the name of the National Fire Protection Association.

A growing debate over a more reliable way to reduce fire damage could affect Delmarva construction and new homeowners.

While over 2,000 Americans are killed and thousands more injured every year in home fires, many people still fail to maintain their smoke alarms, and a majority don’t install sprinkler systems unless required.

Although smoke alarms have decreased death and injury over the last four decades, fire safety officials are seeing the trend hit a plateau. They want to bring in a more reliable, albeit wetter solution.

Which begs the question: should fire sprinklers be required in new homes?

The National Fire Protection Association says yes, of course. Fire sprinklers are required for schools and many commercial buildings. They not only reduce fatalities by 80 percent — compared to smoke alarms, which decrease risk of death by half — they also cut down on property damages by 70 percent.

The environmental benefit is also there: Sprinklers flow water typically at 20 to 25 gallons per minute as soon as they're heat-activated, decreasing structure damage, harmful fumes and danger to firefighters when they arrive.

On the other hand, a fire hose flows at about 150 gallons per minute after the fire has had time to grow, which in itself releases more noxious fumes and billowing, black air pollution, according to Paul Eichler, chairman of Delaware Fire Sprinkler Coalition and a Dover firefighter.

Three states/districts have adopted the 2009 International Residential Code requirement for builders to install sprinkler systems in new one- and two-family homes — California, Washington D.C. and Maryland. County, city and town governments throughout the country have also adopted it.

Prince George's County in Maryland mandated similar legislation back in 1992. It's shown favorable results.

Out of 101 deaths in single-family and townhouse fires between 1992 and 2007 in Prince George's County, not one occurred in a dwelling equipped with a sprinkler system, according to a study by Home Fire Sprinkler Initiative. The sprinklered homes also accounted for less than 2 percent of people injured in a fire.

In the 245 sprinkler activations during the 15-year study, Prince George's Fire Department estimated about $1.3 million in fire damages, versus a potential loss of over $42 million with no sprinkler system.

“I think people are vastly unaware this technology even exists,” Durso said.

Newark requires fire sprinkler installation, but for the rest of Delaware, builders are required to provide cost estimates to homebuyers and provide a pamphlet by the State Fire Marshal's Office about the benefits of sprinklers.

"All of our members have been offering sprinklers to homebuyers for the past year, and I don't think anyone has bought them," said Howard Fortunato, executive vice president of Delaware Home Builders Association.

In Maryland, Sarah Rayne, the government and public affairs director for Coastal Association of Realtors, said she's seen building permits go down.

"It's definitely impacted new home (construction)," she said. "There have obviously been fatalities due to fires, but at the same time, do you want to force someone to install a sprinkler system in their home?"

She said it's also particularly difficult to install on the Eastern Shore, where wells and septic systems are more typical than municipal water.

"Because of the difference inflow between the water systems, the (sprinkler) system is more expensive," she said.

And while the Fire Protection Research Foundation estimates sprinkler systems cost about $1.35 per square foot, Fortunato said he's heard much higher estimates from builders — up to $5, which could mean several thousands more for the buyer.

"If you make it mandatory, that cost goes across the board, and it hurts affordability," Fortunato said.

Rayne added the cost travels from the builder to a higher listing price, which makes an otherwise affordable home out reach, especially for buyers with a lower income.

But Durso said most sprinklers account for only 1 to 2 percent of total construction.

Areas like Sussex County, with expanding residential development and retiree population, face the blaze-inducing trifecta of the modern home: open floor plans, lightweight construction and plastic materials in furniture unite and ignite into hotter, faster moving fires, according to fire advocates.

"Through the fire service, we know people do not properly maintain smoke alarms," Eichler said.

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A fire destroyed a home on Preserve Drive in Lewes on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.(Photo: Staff Photo by Megan Raymond)

And in Delaware, four out of the 10 fire-related deaths that occurred in fiscal year 2017 happened in residences with working smoke detectors.

Some government officials are trying to dampen the cost of sprinkler installation.

Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-Md.) introduced legislation in 2016 that would allow homeowners to receive a tax credit equal to $1.25 per square foot of a new home.

Such laws could help owners of new homes in Maryland, and in areas that have embraced the sprinkler systems, Durso said costs have come down.

Fortunato said the public hasn't expressed a desire for a sprinkler system, despite the option being on the table in Delaware for the past year. But that could be why fire safety advocates are pushing for a requirement.

The mandate would only apply to new construction, since it would be more difficult and expensive to retrofit an older home.

"Don't think that fires in homes are limited to new construction," Fortunato said.